SB 32

Under current law, with certain exceptions, no person who is at least 12 years

of age and who was born on or after January 1, 1988, may operate an all-terrain

vehicle (ATV), and no person who is at least 16 years of age and who was born on or

after January 1, 1988, may operate a utility terrain vehicle (UTV), unless he or she

holds a valid safety certificate issued by the Department of Natural Resources,

another state, or a province of Canada that indicates that the person successfully

completed a program of instruction on ATV and UTV laws and safety. One of the

current law exceptions to this requirement allows a person to operate an ATV or UTV

exclusively on land under the management and control of the person's immediate

family without a safety certificate. This bill creates additional exceptions to the

safety certificate requirement. The bill specifies that a person is not required to have

a safety certificate to operate an ATV or UTV on land under the management and

control of a person who consents to the operation of an ATV or UTV on his or her land.

The bill provides that, for this exception to apply to a person who is under 12 years

of age, the person must be accompanied by his or her parent or guardian or by a

person who is over 18 years of age who is designated by the parent or guardian

(designated adult).

This bill also exempts from the safety certificate requirement a person who

operates an ATV or UTV at a sponsored ATV or UTV demonstration event, provided

that the person wears protective headgear, the person operates the ATV or UTV in

a closed-course area, and, if the person is under 18 years of age, he or she is

accompanied by a parent or guardian or a designated adult.

Current law allows a person to operate an ATV or UTV on the roadway portion

of a highway only under certain conditions. Under one of these conditions, current

law generally allows a person to operate an ATV or UTV on the extreme right side

of a roadway that is designated as an ATV route. Under another condition, current

law allows a person to operate an ATV or UTV on a roadway of a highway that is an

ATV trail. This bill specifies that a person who is under 16 years of age may operate

an ATV on a roadway under either of these two specific conditions only if he or she

is accompanied by his or her parent or by another designated adult.

Under current law, no person may operate an ATV or UTV at a speed exceeding

ten miles per hour when within 150 feet of a dwelling. Under this bill, this ten mile

per hour speed limit also applies when the person is operating an ATV or UTV within

100 feet of another person who is not operating a motor vehicle. Under the bill, the

ten mile per hour speed limit does not apply to a person operating an ATV or UTV

on a roadway that is designated as an ATV route.